Awake by Natasha Preston

  "Who is it, dear?" the man's wife said, leaning around his shoulder.

  "Kids here are lost in the woods," he replied.

  "I was just explaining to your husband that my sister and I walked further than usual and didn't think about the time. Before we knew it, the sun had set, and we couldn't find our way back. We need somewhere to sleep until sunlight when we can see our way home."

  "Of course, of course, dear things," she said, shoving her husband to the side and taking Scarlett's hand. "Come on in, let's get you warm and fed. Through there, dear, that's right."

  She showed Scarlett into the living room and her husband and I followed.

  "Thank you for this, we really appreciate it. We'll be out of your hair at first light."

  "Nonsense," he said. "You're no trouble. We don't get too many folk knocking on our door anymore."

  That I believed. I just hoped we'd be the only ones knocking on the door tonight.

  Scarlett

  BRIDGET HAD ME and Noah sitting on the sofa wedged under a thick tartan blanket. She'd made us hot chocolate with mini marshmallows on top. It was so unbelievably nice to have freshened up a little and be somewhere warm and dry.

  I felt human again, but my nerves were still raging. They were still out there looking for me and any minute and could knock on the door any minute. Noah didn't seem to think they would because questions would be asked, but they didn't have anything to lose anymore. If I disappeared, they wouldn't get their chance at eternal life.

  "So, you two live in town? You don't sound from around here," Seamus said.

  "We moved here from England two years ago. I imagine the accent will catch eventually," I replied.

  I hated lying to them. They were so sweet and so kind, but we couldn't exactly tell them the truth. It was too unbelievable anyway. Eternal Light was well hidden, and although they had electricity and running water, I doubted many locals knew they were even there.

  "Ah, I thought as much."

  Noah smiled. "We camp through most of the summer, though. We've always loved the great outdoors and wish our parents had bought one of the houses in the forest."

  "They don't come along too often."

  "No, I don't expect they would."

  "We've been here forty years now," Bridget said.

  I was waiting for her to say something about a cult or weird group of people living in self-made shacks in the woods, but she didn't. She didn't know about them, which wasn't surprising.

  "Wow, I bet you know everything about this forest then," I said. "We've only been exploring for a couple of years."

  Noah looked at me out of the corner of my eye, but I didn't care about his warning to stop. I wanted to know if they at least suspected something odd was happening around here.

  "We like to think so," Seamus said. "We were young explorers like yourselves back in our youth. We've always loved it out here, the peace and tranquillity it has to offer, so when this house came on the market shortly after we married we snapped it up. There are seven houses in total. Ours is about the deepest into the woods."

  Noah watched him with curiosity. I could tell he was thinking there's a lot more in the woods than seven houses.

  "Any horror stories?" I asked.

  "Amelia!" Noah said, and it took me a minute to realise he was talking to me. "I'm sorry, she's really into ghost stories."

  "No, no, it's fine," Bridget said. "I was, too, at your age."

  "You still are, dear," Seamus added. "Not much happens here. Most exciting thing that's happened is a little girl being seen running in the woods. There was talk of a young girl haunting the forest. Best thing that story ever did was stopping so many teenagers partying until all hours by that clearing a half a mile west."

  A rush of adrenaline sat me forwards. Evelyn? Was it my little sister they saw, running scared and alone? Did no one stop to help because they'd assumed she was a ghost?

  I felt such empathy for her. I'd experienced the same but I was fifteen, not three, and I wasn't alone. She must've been petrified. They should've gone after her. I didn't understand why she ran. Was she afraid because of what was happening to me? Fiona and Donald were too caught up in sacrificing me they didn't stop to think what it would do to her.

  "Wow," Noah said. "That is crazy. We'll be sure to look out for child ghosts."

  Making a joke out of it made me feel sick, even if I did understand why he was doing it. I suddenly felt exhausted, and I couldn't take another sip of the hot chocolate.

  NOAH AND I WERE given a guest bedroom at the side of the house. Shortly after the ghost story, Bridget told Seamus to let us get some rest. The room was small and only had a tiny single bed and a sofa bed, but it was perfect. I wasn't sure if either of them had ever been used before. They really didn't have many visitors and no family, which was sad because they obviously wanted the company, and they were so lovely.

  I sat on the bed while Noah paced the room, my mind half on Evelyn and half on what the plan for morning was. Noah had acted relaxed when we were in the living room with them, but I could tell he was listening for every outside noise.

  He'd scanned the room, checking out the windows and positions of the doors. Although he told me he didn't think they'd come knocking, his actions showed me he wasn't so sure.

  "Are you okay?" I asked. I'd never seen anyone look so stressed before. I knew he felt responsible for what happened and for getting me away, but what happened wasn't all down to him.

  "Fine," he said, not paying any attention to me at all.

  "We're in this together now, Noah. You can tell me your thoughts and fears. Maybe I can help."

  He stopped his pacing to look at me. "I think my fears are obvious, Scarlett. And I don't want you to worry."

  "What are you doing?"

  "Thinking," he replied. "Trying to work out where we are and which way we should go."

  "Maybe you should sit down for a while?"

  "Can't," he said and started the pacing again. "I'm sorry about before."

  "What about before?" He was talking about Evelyn. Raising his eyebrow, he cocked his head as if to say don't act stupid. "It hurts to think about what happened to her."

  "I know, and I'm sorry. She was only with us a day when your commune joined mine in Ireland after the fire. Evelyn ran into the forest."

  "No one went after her?" He licked his lips and closed his eyes. There's more to this.

  "Noah!" I hissed, feeling my body go cold.

  What isn't he telling me?

  "Donald and Fiona let her go. She wasn't supposed to make it out. Evelyn was a trade. Let her go and the nature would find a way to bring you back. One sister for another."

  I was falling into a deep, dark pit of despair. It kept getting worse. Every new thing I learned made less sense than the last. Oh, my God. No.

  "Evelyn was born as insurance, just like a second child to a royal couple, or so we were told. She was loved in the way you are, but she wasn't worshipped. There was always a risk that something could happen to you. No one is immune to death or disease. That's why you're so close in age; there's barely eleven months between you. You were born to save us all; she was born to trade her life for yours should anything happen to you first."

  I wanted to reject what he'd told me, but why would he lie about that?

  "I'm sorry," he said when he saw the tears in my eyes. I hated them so much. They let her go to die cold, hungry and alone in the woods. She was only three. Still a baby.

  "They're evil," I spat. "Why didn't you do anything?"

  "I was a child, and I was told she was going to bring you back to save us all. I didn't understand." He sighed and lowered his eyes. "I didn't really understand anything until I fell for you."

  I couldn't blame him, it was wrong to, but it was so hard to believe he sat by while that happened, even if he was just a child himself. "I know," I said, not wanting to make him feel worse about something that had been out of his control. He was a victim of Eternal Light, t
oo.

  "I really am, though, Scarlett. I wish I'd been strong enough to see what they were doing this whole time."

  "You couldn't. We believe what we've been taught, right? Especially by the people we trust the most."

  He turned quiet again like he'd slipped into his own world.

  "Do you think we should split up?" I asked.

  "Are you..." he trailed off, looking at me like I'd said the most stupid thing in the world. I knew it wasn't the best idea, but I was worried about him. I didn't trust any of them, and I knew they took loyalty very seriously. What Noah had done was unheard of. He knew the woods and the cult better than me, so he had a better chance. "We're not even talking about that."

  "I'm worried about you. Betraying them wasn't easy, was it?"

  "When I finish talking, we'll pretend this conversation never happened and perhaps you'll finally believe how much I would sacrifice for you and stop asking such stupid questions." He'd turned deadly serious, posture stiffening, jaw hardening. "You above everything. In the end, turning my back on the people that were going to drive a knife through your heart was almost as easy as falling in love with you."

  He turned away again, and that was the abrupt end of that conversation. He made my heart swell, made me want to be with him again. I didn't know how we could be, but it hurt to think that we could never have a chance to be together. If we got away, maybe we could.

  We'd both been through something horrific and made mistakes. In the end, all that mattered was Noah saving my life

  "Noah," I whispered. "I love you, too."

  He sucked in his breath but didn't look back at me. I didn't need him to. He felt it just as much as I did. He wanted what I wanted, but neither of us was sure if we could ever have it again.

  Noah

  "HOW LONG DO you think we should stay here for?" Scarlett asked, peering out of the window for the hundredth time.

  "Come away," I said, tugging on her hand. "We don't want to be seen."

  "I'm scared."

  "I am, too," I replied. "We have to keep our heads down until light. If we keep going now we'll only get lost in the forest."

  "But isn't it more dangerous to stay? They'll expect us to be staying somewhere."

  "We don't have many options, Scarlett. You agreed this was our best chance. Why don't you try to get some sleep?"

  She shook her head. "There's no way I can sleep."

  "We are leaving at first light and we'll probably have a whole day of running and hiding. You're going to need all the strength you can get."

  "What about you?"

  "No."

  I could see in her eyes that she didn't completely trust me. She wanted to, but she couldn't. I was determined to get her to safety and earn that trust back.

  "So...you don't think I'm the key to eternal life now?"

  I started to pace again. "No. I think you're the key to my happiness. As long as you're okay, I'm okay. There's nothing in this world I wouldn't fight against to make sure you're still breathing."

  "Do you think we're going to make it out of this?"

  "Yes, I do." They'd be looking, and they wouldn't stop until they found her, but there was no way I was letting anything happen to her. She was getting out of here no matter the cost. "I need you to think positively." I ran my hands through my hair. I was starting to sound like my dad. "We're going to be fine, Scarlett. I need you to trust me."

  "I'm trying to. It's hard."

  I left my post and knelt down in front of her, pulling her arms from her legs. "I won't betray you again. I love you, Scarlett."

  Her eyes filled with tears; she opened her mouth to reply, but a thud on the front door had me covering her mouth with my hand. She looked as terrified as I felt. "Shh," I whispered. "Get off the bed and follow me."

  Her hand trembled in mine as I led her to the door. The knock, this time harder, echoed through the tiny cottage. They're here.

  "I'm coming, I'm coming," Seamus said, heading to the door in his slippers and a threadbare dressing gown. My heart was pounding. They've found us, and I need to get her out of here right now.

  I picked up the bag and yanked Scarlett's arm. "Put this on," I said, putting the straps over her arms. "Remember we run straight and don't stop. In the morning, we'll see where we are, listen out for sounds that we're near town."

  We made it into the kitchen when Seamus's guttural scream stopped me in my tracks. Scarlett froze. What was going on? I turned around with a heart racing. "Noah! Noah!" my dad shouted.

  "What's going on? Who're you?" Bridget asked. "Seamus," she screamed next. "No, Seamus. What did you do? What did you do?"

  Oh no. What'd they done to him?

  "Go now, Scarlett!" I shoved her towards the door. They were already coming. Their footsteps thudded in between Bridget's wailing. It was so much worse than I could have imagined. I expected a fight, but I never dreamt they'd hurt someone else. I couldn't hear Seamus, but I knew they'd done something really bad to him.

  That wasn't supposed to happen.

  Scarlett grabbed my arm when I opened the door.

  "Go now!" I said, pushing her.

  "No, what're you doing?"

  "There's not enough time. I'll hold them off. Run, Scarlett. Let me do this one thing right. I love you. Run." I kissed her hard and shoved her out of the door.

  Her eyes were wild. I closed the door and turned around, my hands trembling. They were searching the rooms. I heard doors being opened and lights being switched on. There weren't too many rooms, so it wasn't long before the kitchen door was slammed back to the wall.

  Dad and Donald stood before me.

  I straightened my back, having no clue what was about to happen or what to do other than stall them, so Scarlett had as much time to get away as possible. She's out. She's okay.

  "Where is she?" Dad asked.

  "Gone," I replied.

  My dad had never looked disappointed or angry because of me before. But then I had never done anything to disagree or disobey him before. Sacrificing - murdering - Scarlett would have been a mistake, one that we could never right.

  "I'm sorry," I said, "But you are wrong about this."

  Donald took a step beyond my dad and held his hands up as if I was dangerous and required calming down. "It is alright, Noah. We don't blame you. This was a risk, having you on the outside for so long. But you know the truth, everything we have taught you is the truth. Deep down you still know that."

  I shook my head. "No. You're just going to kill her. Nothing will happen, she will be dead."

  "That isn't true, Noah. Everything they are told is a lie, one to make them conform and fit perfectly into society. I used to be there, too, until I realised the truth. Until I had my mind unlocked. You're making a huge mistake here, Noah, but it's not too late to rectify it. None of us are angry with you; we can help."

  I gripped my hair, closing my eyes. No, he was lying. I thought about Scarlett, her smile, her soft musical voice, the way her hair naturally curled just a little bit, her bright eyes. Opening my eyes again, I said, "But she'll be dead."

  "Only in this life, Noah. There is so much beyond this," Donald replied.

  "Why now? Why not when she's sixty or sixty-four?"

  Donald tilted his head. "If we want our community as it is now it has to be now. You know that if we waited that long I, Fiona, your parents, the rest of the elders will be dead, and it'll be over for us."

  Selfish. That was all this was. He was willing to sacrifice his daughter so he could live in eternal happiness while he was still fit and healthy. Never mind Scarlett wanting to grow up and have a family of her own.

  "What about what Scarlett wants?" I asked. "Does it not matter that she has things she wants to achieve?"

  "This life won't matter in the next," Dad said. "We'll be reunited, we'll see Scarlett again, for eternity. Now, stop this, Noah, you know what is true."

  I stood taller. He was right. I did know the truth. "I won't give her up."

/>   Dad took a step closer. "You either step aside right now so we can find her, and you can return home or this is it. Either way, we'll get her back, but this the only chance you'll get to make the right choice."

  "I won't give her up," I repeated.

  Dad's face sobered. "Alright. Remember that you have made your choice, Noah. There is nothing we can do for you now."

  Fear clawed its way up my throat. His eyes hollowed. There was nothing that looked at me like I was his son, his blood. He was choosing Eternal Light. He pulled a blade out of his pocket.

  I looked between him and the knife, too shocked that my dad had pulled a knife on me.

  "Dad, what're you doing?"

  "Shh," he said, moving closer. Donald stood behind him, watching. The order would have come from Donald but the fact that my own father could go ahead with stabbing his child made me sick.

  "Dad, don't." I backed up again, taking a sweeping look around the room to see if there was anything I could use to fight him off. An umbrella and an old, wooden walking stick that looked like it would break if I picked it up. "You'll regret this for the rest of your life. I'm your son. Think about it for a second. How can you believe in Eternal Light and everything Donald's told you if he's asking you to kill? Love, peace, respect and harmony. Does that sound like what's happening right now?" I said desperately.

  My heart thumped against my chest, beating too fast and too hard.

  "Dad, please. You know this isn't right."

  "Stop talking, Noah. You made your choice, and you have to live with the consequences. You are a loose cannon now, a risk to us all and one we are not willing to leave."

  I lurched forwards, grabbing the arm that held the blade and shoving it away from me. Dad cried out and spun around, trying to shake me off. I held on, fighting for my life, knowing that if I gave him the chance it could be all over for me.

  He stopped being my dad at that moment. When I knew I had to fight against my father to stop him murdering me, he became nothing but an enemy.

  He flung us forward and my back cracked against the concrete wall, knocking the air from my lungs. Gritting my teeth, I tightened my grip of his wrist and tried to turn the knife back on him.

  Donald did nothing but stand and watch. I expected him to dart after Scarlett.

  He must have other people out there looking for her.